


Zanshin

by ssa_archivist



Category: Smallville
Genre: First Time, M/M, PWP
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-06-08
Updated: 2003-06-08
Packaged: 2017-11-01 09:24:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/354930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ssa_archivist/pseuds/ssa_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lex teaches Clark about an ancient Japanese philosophy that emphasizes total awareness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Zanshin

## Zanshin

by SkaterBoy

<http://www.livejournal.com/~edgecity>

* * *

For Rontgenkatze on her birthday. 

* * *

Lex was on the phone when Clark walked into the office. He nodded briefly, and indicated that Clark should sit on the couch. 

A few minutes later Lex hung up. "What can I do for you today, Clark?" 

Clark grinned and put two fingers to his temple. "Lana says you're teaching her _unagi_." 

Lex frowned. "I'm teaching her how to grill eels?" He was clearly confused. Clark laughed. 

"Lex, it's a joke. Don't you ever watch Friends?" 

He didn't understand why Lex's expression was suddenly guarded. Lex quickly recovered - from what, Clark wasn't sure - and chuckled. "Watch friends do what, Clark?" he asked suggestively. Heat pooled in Clark's groin at the look in Lex's eyes. 

Clark cleared his throat. "Um. Friends is a tv show, Lex." 

Lex nodded, clearly amused by his own ignorance. 

Oh. So it hadn't been a deliberate misunderstanding. 

Clark was a little disappointed, but the feeling evaporated when Lex quirked his mouth into a half-smile. "So what does this tv show have to do with unagi?" The tone of his voice suggested that he was talking about something else. Maybe still thinking of his original interpretation of Clark's question about watching friends. 

Clark ran over the episode in his head, trying to figure out the shortest explanation. "Well, these girls, Phoebe and Rachel, take a self-defense class, but their friend Ross thinks they can't defend themselves after just one class. Anyway, Ross says they have to have unagi." Lex was trying very hard not to laugh. "He said unagi was a concept of total awareness. But yeah, Rachel and Phoebe knew it was eel. It was still funny though." Clark trailed off. 

Lex rose from the desk and joined Clark on the couch, sitting close enough that Clark could smell his cologne. The scent curled into the back of his throat, making it hard for Clark to breathe. In a good way, somehow. He tried very hard to ignore the effect Lex was having on him. "I would imagine," Lex began, casually draping his arm over the back of the couch, "but it sounds like you had to be there." He offered Clark a friendly smile before composing his face again. "What you're describing sounds like _zanshin_. Where did this character learn the expression? Did he say?" 

"Um." Clark glanced down at his hands, wishing he were brave enough to look Lex in the eyes. But then he was afraid he'd give in to the magnetic pull Lex always seemed to radiate, and lean in and kiss him. And that would not be a good thing. "He said he learned it when he took karate classes." 

Lex nodded solemnly. "That makes sense. Zanshin is a Japanese concept similar to what you related as this character's understanding of unagi. It's a state of total awareness, often described as having eyes all over one's body." Clark knew that feeling. It was the way he felt when he was in Lex's presence and Lex swept him up and down with his eyes, seeming to devour him, undress him all at once. It made him feel naked, made him want to offer himself to Lex. 

Clark swallowed, realizing just how hard he was. He placed his hands in his lap, hoping the action was surreptitious enough to escape Lex's attention. "It's a technique my fencing instructors have encouraged me to employ. Physically you're relaxed, but prepared for anything. You mind is one with your environment, ready for your opponent's next move." Lex shifted, not seeming to notice that his arm had moved closer to Clark, his eyes focused deep and inward. "It's effective for dealing with business rivals, as well." He smiled at Clark, and the illusion of distance was broken. 

Clark stared at Lex for a few seconds. "Oh," he finally managed. 

"So Lana said I was teaching her unagi?" Lex looked slightly amused, but not like he was making fun of him. Clark relaxed. 

"Yeah. She said after that guy attacked her, you offered to give her lessons in selfdefense." 

"I did." Lex studied him, not taking his eyes off Clark. "I showed her some techniques for dealing with bullies. Of course, I emphasized that these were only methods for defending herself against attackers. She should avoid confrontation if possible." 

"That's what I said!" Clark grinned, but soon turned serious under Lex's intense gaze. "Lex... what did you think I meant earlier about, um. Watching friends." He had a pretty good idea what Lex had thought, if his comeback was any indication. Lex's smile, now, suggested that Clark might be right. 

"I thought you were finally flirting with me, Clark." With that, he placed a hand on Clark's knee, his expression daring Clark to move away from his touch. Clark took a deep breath, and moved closer. 

"So you have been flirting with me." Clark slowly moved his hand down his thigh until it was resting on top of Lex's hand. Lex smirked. 

"So you noticed." 

"How could I not?" Clark rested his head on the back of the couch so they were at eye level, his hair brushing against Lex's arm. "You never answered my question." 

Lex didn't even ask him to repeat the question. "Yes, but I doubt that you have." It was Clark's turn to be confused. Very briefly, but confused nonetheless. "Would you like to?" 

Clark smirked. Lex must be joking. "What? Watch friends?" 

"Kinky, Clark, but no." Lex moved their hands over to his own knee. "Watch one friend." Lex's eyes had darkened, until only a small rim of sky blue bordered the black center. Clark could only nod, sure that his eyes were as dilated as Lex's. Looking satisfied, Lex moved back until his head was laying on the opposite arm of the sofa, his legs resting in Clark's lap. "You sure?" He didn't wait for an answer as he slid down the zipper on his slacks, the noise making Clark think he was going to explode right there. 

Clark didn't know what to do with his hands. He just stared at Lex. "A little help?" At first Clark didn't have a clue what Lex was talking about, then took in Lex's raised hips and understood. He pulled Lex's slacks down to his knees, then, thinking he'd rather see all of Lex if he could, pulled off Lex's shoes and then the pants all the way off. Lex just watched him with a little smile on his face. 

Lex still had his briefs on. They didn't do a single thing to hide his erection and Clark was pretty sure his eyes were bugging out of his head. Unable to resist, he let his hand find its way to the bulge and _touched_. Lex inhaled sharply as his cock jumped under Clark's hand, getting harder by the second. 

Clark ran his hand over Lex's cock as his friend's breathing got faster. Lex closed his eyes and started unbuttoning his shirt, letting the fabric drop to either side. His arms were still in the sleeves, and all Clark could think was that he wanted to see Lex completely naked. No shirt, no underwear, nothing. Lex didn't resist as Clark pulled down the elastic, but wouldn't let him take off the shirt. Clark watched, frustrated, as Lex stared at him and slowly slid his hand down his chest. 

"Lex!" He was nervous all of a sudden, and Lex stilled his hand - but not his fingers. He lazily circled his nipples with two fingers, and Clark watched, flushing deeply as they hardened. 

"Yes, Clark?" Lex offered him a smoldering look, one of the looks that made Clark want to jump him. Not sure what he'd been going to say, Clark blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "We haven't even kissed yet!" 

Unconcerned with his nakedness, Lex slid his feet off the couch, moving to stand directly in front of Clark. He let Clark look his fill, take in every smooth contour of his body. Clark's mouth seemed unable to close and his heart was hammering away at a million miles an hour. Lex's body was gorgeous. Clark reached out to touch and Lex let him, let him trail his fingers over ribs and stomach and thighs. Before he had the courage to touch more, Lex moved forward to straddle his lap. 

Lex pushed up Clark's shirt, and at first he didn't understand why. Then Lex leaned forward to kiss him and oh, hard and slick against his stomach and _now_ he knew why, started to remind himself to thank Lex later but then all coherent thought disappeared as Lex moved in to conquer his mouth. Lex tasted like things Clark was too young to drink, rich and liquid. Lex's body moved over his and Clark got drunk on the feeling of Lex pressing against him. Then, too soon, Lex leaned away. 

His knees were firmly on either side of Clark's hips, all his weight on his lower legs. Clark couldn't even feel Lex sitting on him, and it was driving him crazy. Lex's lips moved, but Clark couldn't hear what he was saying. Suddenly Lex dipped forward. His lips landed on Clark's ear. Clark jumped. 

Lex soothed his hands over Clark's biceps. "Total awareness," he whispered, the tickle of his voice sending shivers down Clark's spine. The lightest of kisses rained over his neck, across his throat. Lex paused at his adam's apple, just breathing at first, then moved in for the kill, sucking hard enough to leave a mark on a mere human. He murmured something into Clark's skin and bit at his sensitized skin, biting up to Clark's other ear. "Engage your body with your environment." _Lex_ was his environment. He felt Lex everywhere, even where their bodies were infinite millimeters away, awareness trickling over his skin and straight to his cock. "Be prepared for anything." Lex's tongue plunged into his ear then, undulating with his hips as they teased Clark's thighs, cock, stomach. Clark was certain he was turning into an amber puddle of awareness, waiting for Lex to drink him. 

Lex sipped at his lips, guided his arms over his head to remove his shirt. Clark reached for his pants but Lex took hold of his wrist. "Kiryoku," he murmured, pressing an openmouthed kiss to Clark's pulse point. "You must control your impulses." Clark let out a moan. "No touching, only watching." He needed so badly to touch himself but Lex's gaze permitted no argument. He whimpered as Lex pulled back to lay across the couch, laying one leg over Clark's. The other leg he tossed over the side of the couch and Clark gaped. Lex was just... spread open for him and he couldn't even touch. Could only watch. 

"Are you surprised I have hair here, Clark?" Lex's voice was low, thick, seductive as he curled his fingers at the base of his cock, making himself harder, making Clark harder. "Do you know what this is?" Lex grinned widely, teasing himself with light fingertips. "The hara, Clark, the body's center of mass. This is where the ki resides. One's mind, spirit." It was lewd, obscene the way Lex was stroking himself and talking about an ancient Japanese philosophy of fighting, and it made Clark want him even more. "Energy. Intention," Lex grunted. "Where all actions originate." 

Lex temporarily abandoned his lecture for a more intimate philosophy. "Do you ever think of me when I'm alone, wonder what I look like without any clothes on?" Images popped into Clark's head, nothing as beautiful or graphic as what he had right in front of him. He nodded dumbly, barely registering the amused flicker in Lex's eyes. "I think about you." He was growling now and he grasped his cock so suddenly it made Clark flinch. Lex didn't seem to notice. He'd tossed his head back as moved his hand up and down, hypnotic squeezes that made him bulge in different places and Clark stared, transfixed. Clenched his hands into fists so he wouldn't reach out and touch. 

The glistening drop of moisture at the tip of Lex's cock grew and Clark watched, fascinated, as it trailed down the red-hot flesh until it merged into Lex's pumping fist. Forgetting not to touch, Clark reached out and wrapped his hand around Lex's, pulling back when Lex opened his eyes. "If you choose to make an attack, you must follow through." Lex paused to pull Clark's hand over his and chuckled. "You will learn, kohai." Clark had no idea what he was saying but really, did it matter when Lex's cock was in his hand? 

Lex had forgotten about old world fighting techniques, his mouth forming one word over and over. Clark watched his face, tight, anguished, gorgeous, savored the feeling of Lex in his hand, branding his palm. Lex's entire body arched into the air, into Clark's hand, and all Clark knew was Lex's come all over his hands and his name on Lex's lips. 

"Clark," he murmured one last time, and Clark lowered himself over his friend. They panted together as Lex wrapped his arms tightly around Clark's body. Clark hushed him with gentle kisses to his neck, finally daring to kiss Lex on the lips. It was a deep, lazy kiss that promised so much more. "Have to go home soon?" 

Clark shook his head into Lex's chest. 

"Good." Lex kissed the top of his head. "I have so much more to teach you." 

* * *

Want to know more about Zanshin and related concepts? 

<http://home.earthlink.net/~shiseiryu1/shiseiryu1/shiseiryu/genknowl.htm>

Want Lex to tell Clark about any of these concepts? Want to tell me what you thought about this fic? Email me at ImaSkaterBoy@hotmail.com. 


End file.
